Though Hurricane Bud, the first of the Eastern Pacific (Mexico) region, has weakened as it nears shore, it’s still blowing at 100 knots and should make landfall tonight between Manzanillo and Banderas Bay (Puerto Vallarta). More »

The Bay will undoubtedly be more crowded on Sunday during the Bridge’s 75th anniversary celebrations. © Rich Niewiroski Jr. The only Bay Area sailors who haven’t heard about this weekend’s happenings must be living under a bridge. More »

There may be hope on the horizon for cruisers wanting to take the easy way to the Med through the Gulf of Aden, an area that in recent years has been rife with pirates. More »

Earlier in the month, we wrote about a German exchange student looking for a sailing host family during his stay in the U.S. While government rules prohibited Inter-Ed’s Cheryl Williams from sharing information on the student, there is apparently no rule against the student contacting us directly and sharing some info. More »

Prada wins the day with a victory for both Italian boats. © Ellen Hoke "I’m surprised that the cheers of the Italian fans didn’t wake up every sailing fan in San Francisco," says roving reporter Ellen Hoke. More »

"Tiki and I had a close call with narco violence La Paz on Mother’s Day," reports Michael Kehir of the Moss Landing-based Yorktown 35 Merilon, "as we were 10 minutes away from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. More »

San Francisco’s Robert Gurman invited toursits Ed and Rachel Federman and Alex Perez to join him on a paddle boat tour under the Golden Gate Bridge. The trip quickly, and not too surprisingly, turned sour. More »

As 32 boats were making their way around a challenging in-the-Bay course that took the place of the Singlehanded Sailing Society’s canceled Singlehanded Farallones Race (you’ll find the report on the Stand Down Race in Wednesday’s ‘Lectronic), a handful of sailors made the trek out to the Farallon Islands, possibly in protest of the temporary suspension of ocean races, to honor those who had perished in them, or to just enjoy a day of mild ocean sailing. More »

Boatloads of boaters worked on their tans during Opening Day. With any luck, tomorrow will bring similar conditions. latitude/John
©2012 Latitude 38 Media, LLC When foreign vacationers arrive in California for the first time, many are surprised to learn that the whole coastline is not blessed with the hot, sunny weather they’ve seen on Bay Watch. More »

Anyone who says sailing is a young man’s — or young woman’s — game hasn’t met Cornelia Spanier, who turns 97 on July 26. "My aunt Connie is an amazing lady," writes Greg Clausen, who keeps his Santana 30 Wisdom in Sausalito. More »